Boot Camp for Business Owners

Price: $ 59.95+GST

Owning a business requires a vision balanced with attention to detail. You need to be a generalist who understands the multiple aspects of running a business, as well as the ability to step back and see the big picture and to reach into the future. This course will give you the basic business management skills that you need for success.

This course will give you all the skills that you need as a new business owner. You’ll learn how to develop your organizational chart, manage operations, speak knowledgeably about finance, hire the right people, build your brand, market your product online and offline, complete a strategic plan and a succession plan, and build your customer base. You’ll also learn the basics of leadership and tips for taking your business to the next level.

Table of Contents

Basic Business Management: Boot Camp for Business Owners

Session 1: Course Overview

Learning Objectives
Pre-Assignment
Pre-Course Assessment

Session 2: Who Are You and What Are You About?

What is Our Business?
Making Connections
Pre-Assignment Review
Pre-Assignment Review
The Owner's Role
Ingredients for Success
The Business Owner
The Entrepreneur
The Freelancer
Words of Wisdom
Keeping Things Moving

Session 3: Designing Your Organizational Structure

Bringing the Idea to Life
Getting Started
Growth Phase One
Growth Phase Two
Putting the Pieces Together
Looking at the Options
Geographic Structure
Divisional Structure
Matrix Structure
Summary
Making Connections
Differences for Corporations
Choosing Board Members
Board Issues
The Role of Shareholders
The Big Picture
Words of Wisdom
Current Thinking
Making Connections

Session 4: Introduction to Operations Management

Defining Operations Management
What Does It All Mean?
Envisioning the Process
Introduction to Types of Operations
Types of Operations
Practical Application

Session 5: Understanding Financial Terms

Finance
Recording Financial Transactions
General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
The Income Statement
Income Statement Equation
Sample Income Statement
The Balance Sheet
Balance Sheet Equation
More About Balance Sheets
Current vs. Fixed Assets
Cash Flow Statement
Statement of Retained Earnings

Session 6: Getting the Right People in Place

Six Essential Steps of Hiring
More about Orientation
More about Onboarding
Making Connections

Session 7: Getting Your Product Together

Inventory Management
Types of Inventory
More About Inventory
Understanding the Value Chain
Making Connections
Outsourcing Options
Quality Control
Quality Control Philosophy

Session 8: Building a Corporate Brand

Your Brand
Example: Acme Widgets Inc.
Brand Names and Slogans
Do's and Don'ts
Developing a Slogan
Developing a Slogan
How People Will See Your Images
Choosing a Color
Color Spectrum Two
Fonts
Sans Serif Fonts
Specialty Fonts
Font Considerations
Simple Pictorial Mark
Letterform
Wordmark
Emblems
Working It Out

Session 9: Marketing Your Product

About the Marketing Process
Cycle Overview
Stage One: Consumer and Market Analysis
What Do They Need?
Who is Buying Our Product? Who is Using Our Product?
What is the Buying Process?
How Can I Leverage Segmentation?
Segmentation Case Study
Stage Two: Analyzing the Competition and Yourself
SWOT Analysis
Next Steps
Stage Three: Analyzing Distribution Channels
Making Connections
Stage Four: Creating a Marketing Plan
Price
Price
Place
Promotion
Packaging
Making Connections
The Final Stages: Implement, Evaluate, Review, Revise
Leveraging Social Media
Leveraging Social Media

Session 10: Selling Your Product

Building Your Sales Force
The Sales Cycle
Initiate
Initiate
Build
Manage
Optimize

Session 11: Planning for the Future

Introduction to Strategic Planning
Identifying Your Stakeholders
Taking the Right Approach
Making Connections
The Strategic Plan Pyramid

Session 12: Goal Setting and Goal Getting

Setting Achievable Goals: Identifying Outcomes
The Four Perspectives
Customizing the Perspectives
Timeline for Your Plan
Goals with SPIRIT
Getting Into It

Session 13: Succession Planning 101

What is Succession Planning?
Replacing vs. Succeeding
Defining Succession Planning

Session 14: Managing Your Money

What is a Budget?
Test All Assumptions
How Was Last Year?
How's The Marketplace Doing?
What's It Costing?
Managing Your Budget
Know Your Accruals
Getting it Right

Session 15: Ethics 101

Are You Ready?
Sample Codes of Ethics
Rotary Four-Way Test
Minnesota Principles
Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics
Your Code of Ethics

Session 16: Building a Strong Customer Care Team

The Pillars of Success
The Critical Elements of Customer Service
Making Connections
The Remaining Elements
Critical Element Three: Given Life by the Employees
Critical Element Four: Be a Problem Solver
A Problem Solving Process
Critical Element Five: Measure It
Critical Element Six: Reinforce It
Developing and Maintaining Relationships

Session 17: Training Employees for Success

Why Continuous Learning?
Factors for Learning Success
Getting Motivated for Training
Steps in the Learning Process
Making Connections

Session 18: Leadership Essentials

Leading and Managing
Leadership Styles
Making Connections
Applying the Styles
The Cycle of Styles
Managing Performance
Making Connections

Session 19: A Personal Action Plan

Starting Point
Where I Want to Go
How I Will Get There
Summary
Recommended Reading List
Post-Course Assessment